Pomly

(Originally published at Harada Blogada)

Made some pancakes. You make rainbow pancakes ONCE and they want rainbow every time. So I said we can use one color. This all natural blue food coloring does not work so well. But it looks lovely with his eyes.


If pancakes naturally poured square instead of circle, they might have looked rather sidewalky. Despite their cement intentions, they were pretty darn delicious and that is why I got no photos of the final cakes.

In case you come 'round here to see the plushes, here is a grey fellow for you. He told me to say wassup. Don't have much else to show right now since I am working on the book.

Robo Elka just happens to be looking for a mommy or daddy or both.

(Originally published at Harada Blogada)

I have one drawer that is dedicated to just cookies cutters. It is full to the max. This one got bent out of shape just from trying to open the drawer. Time to move them to a bigger home! Can you tell what this one is supposed to be? In smooshed form, it looks like a space age low rider.


We brought out the game cube.

(Originally published at Harada Blogada)

This beautiful mother's day bouquet includes two rare and exotic bloomin' blondies. I am such a lucky momma!

(Originally published at Harada Blogada)

We had a garden leaf tasting.
I planted some of these and some of them planted themselves.
Favorite leaf combo: mint + stevia
(click pic to see leafy name tags)


Here is where the green things grow, in this tiny urban plot.


The mint is taking over. Its roots have reached the furthest corners of the garden. Lots of iced tea on the horizon!


Wheatgrass Cthulhu.


Sprouts are good for eating.


Sprouts are good for building.


Vegetable.


Not a vegetable.
Why does this plate say "February" when the violets are in full bloom right now? Perhaps the artist lived south of New Jersey.

(Originally published at Harada Blogada)

Hey guess what, I won a prize! Yay, I am a lucky girl. The prize was a pretty little button on The Crafty Crow blog. I love The Crafty Crow! To add some fun and spread the love, I put a secret code on the button for a sale in my Etsy shop. So if there's something in my shop that you dig, now you can dig it for 20% off. Head on over to The Crafty Crow to look for the POMLY button and then hop back to use the secret code. The sale will last as long as the button is up. I have a bunch of things that I have been meaning to add to the shop, so I am going to try and get those in there. I've been nutso busy with the book I have been writing, so I really haven't been adding stuff, but I am going to try and add more stuff, special for this secret code sale. There are a bunch of creatures sitting around here wondering why I haven't been paying any attention to them.


Made some alphabet soup.
Poured some in a bowl.
XOXO!
I swear I did not stage this!


This one was staged.

(Originally published at Harada Blogada)

I've been feeling super experimenty in the kitchen lately. The more you experiment, the more chances you have to get things wrong. First up we have pumpernickel buns of steel. You can also call them fauxtatoes or rocks. I think my yeast is dead. Must buy new jar.


Here are some healthified krispy treats. I thought they tasted good but the family hardly touched them so that's not a great sign. Enjoying your own bad cooking methinks is akin to not being offended by one's own toots.


Finally, here is rainbow jello with too much blue layer and so it mostly looked like coal lumps. YUM!

Ok yes I've relinquished the notion that it is important to put pretty borders on the pictures. It takes too long and there are monstery things that need to be done around here. I must figure out how to create an automatic Photoshop action to assume the task. I will consult Dr. Googy on that one soon. Or if you can teach me, I'll send you a batch of your favorite of any of the above tasty morsels. I joke. My next attempt is going to be to make homemade Twinkies. Wish me luck. I have a recipe but it says nothing about any orange flavor. Am I crazy to think that there is a hint of orange flavor in Twinkies? Haven't had one in years, so perhaps I am inventing that memory. I think injecting the creamy filling will be fun! And now I am going to go try to sleep but how will it be possible with homemade Twinkies on the mind?

(Originally published at Harada Blogada)

The latest batch of seed pots are made of paper bags and toilet paper rolls. They look like a little city as they hang out near the growing area just waiting to be filled with dirt.

Here's a little bloggy questionnaire that I swiped from Hodge Podge Farm.

What is your current obsession?
Watching the seedlings grow. So much happens in a day. It's fascinating. Take this little drama, for example. This one sun gold cherry tomato was having a hard time getting his head to pop out of the dirt. Since this picture was taken, he sacrificed his own first leaves! The stem broke away and is now heading upward while the leaves remain in the ground! The ultimate sacrifice, but it was all for naught because I am going to thin most of these guys out of there anyway.


Which item from your closet are you wearing most lately?
Tall and cozy red over the knee socks.

What's for dinner?
Slow cookin!

What was the last thing you bought?
Lemongrass, galangal and coconut milk, among other ingredients. Can you guess what I am going to make?

What are you listening to right now?
Peace and quiet. Nothing but the lull of the dishwasher and the washing machine, so beautiful together. Thanks for doing the work for me, friendly machines!

Say something to the person who tagged you:
Hi Cal! You didn't actually tag me but I think you are totally neato-freato.

What are you planting in your garden this year?
So far I've started cilantro, popcorn, watermelon, delicata squash, two kinds of tomato, broccoli, zinnia, and petunia. I want to plant so much more! I am afraid the watermelon and squash are destined to take over the whole garden.


What are you reading right now?
Mine blogroll

What is your current guilty pleasure?
Candied orange peels

What will be the first spring thing you do?
Till the bitty bit of earth in our little yard.

Where are you planning to travel next?
Virginia to see (be) the Easter Bunny.

If you could grow any plant(s) in the world in your house or yard, what would it be?
cinnamon, tea, avocado, lemon, lime, mango, pomegranate, so many things!

What was the last thing you made?
Some monsters.

What do you collect?
Seeds.

It's hard for me to throw seeds away. I want to grow every seed I cross paths with. I like collecting seeds from the things I eat and also from the wild. Swapping seeds or just giving them away is fun too. Some of these are over 10 years old. What do you think I should plant next?

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Play along! These are the rules: Answer these same questions on your own blog. Replace one question that you dislike with a question of your own invention. Add one more question of your own. Tag eight other un-tagged people.

I tag: Loolee, Schnerby, Elka, Jhomas, Cosette, Weemaway, Snorglor, Ms. Nitro-Sweet

(Originally published at Harada Blogada)

My son has been begging for rainbow pancakes ever since we made them the first time over a year ago. When I realized so much time had passed, I knew I could not keep putting it off, so I decided St. Patrick's Day would be the perfect day to hold the 2nd annual Rainbow Pancake Day. It was fun, but kind of rushed because it was a school day. Next year I declare Rainbow Pancake day will be the Saturday before St. Patrick's Day.

Extremely rushed pancake designs, clockwise from top left:
Corporate logo pancake
Little Old Lady Who? pancake
Disfigured Hot Dog with Mustard on Bun, Cross Section pancake
Digestive System pancake

I tried out the all natural food colorings. The result was kind of dull compared to the fake stuff. I guess that was to be expected. I am sure I could figure out how to use them better, though. Maybe use more coloring and a lower flame to cook the pancakes? Another downside is that they are really expensive. I probably would not have bought them if I was paying attention to the scanner at the grocery store. It does feel better using colors derived from real food instead of crap, but for the price, I wish they were organic too. Since we had limited time before school, I didn't have much time to get artistic. Just blobtastic.

And now, my 1/4 Irish self must venture out to procure the proper provisions for tonight's holiday feast. Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

In case you like to take a looky at some cookies:


(Originally published at Harada Blogada)

I can't wait to grow way too many things to possibly fit in my little tiny backyard this summer. For the first year ever I've got a good head start on getting some seedlings going. I've been sowing a thing or two for the past few days. My popcorn babies have already emerged! I've got some fancy heat mats and some fancy grow lights. However, my set-up is not so fancy. I need to assemble something more sturdy. Right now those lights are quite precariously perched. All of the seedling pots are made from recycled stuff. There are some berry containers and some origami newspaper pots. I found out by trial and error that a nine inch square will make the perfect sized pot to fit six of them in a rectangle Chinese food take out container. Click here for the instructions I used. There is one tricky step, but it's really not that hard and once you figure it out these fold up rather quickly. One nice thing about making these is that you don't have to be precise because dirt doesn't care. Make sure to use newspaper printed with soy based inks. You don't want toxic chems in your veggies!


This is going to be popcorn one day! I hope they don't get bored just sitting around growing. Well I guess they can occupy themselves with that crossword puzzle. I find it thrilling just watching the corn grow. I keep checking on them. It only took two days for them to peek a boo! When the other things pop out I am going to go crazy just staring at all the cute little babies. I have a grand dream of one day growing all the food that my family will eat. I wonder if that will ever be reality. It would definitely have to involve a greenhouse. Maybe our whole house could be a big greenhouse. That would be cool.

(Originally published at Harada Blogada)

nine grain bread
banana slices
homemade peach schnapps cream cheese


it was so delicious
nine grain bread
veggie bacon
red onion
fresh basil
lettuce
pumpkin puree (prepared with a little salt and butter)

I ate some sandwiches. Isn't that exciting? Well it was for me. I have two big projects going on and they are secret for now, so there might not be many new plush pictures around here for a while. Most likely to appear here in the next few months: pictures of food I made and things I am growing. I am planting lots and lots of seeds. I am going to fill my little urban garden to the max this summer! If you'd like to see some more sandwiches, hop on over to this silly blog I came across: SCANWICHES

(Originally published at Harada Blogada)

Shortbread in the shape of elephants. I wish I had given them faces. Next time.


It went nicely with some sweet cheese I made.

One chilly evening not that long ago I decided I would like to have a comforting beverage. I somehow concluded that warm milk with a shot of peach schnapps would be the ultimate in liquid cozy delight. WRONG. Curds and whey formed. I became nauseated and dumped it. But then soon after I put on the cheesemaker hat and reenacted the same technique which resulted in a sweet and peachy yummy spreadable! I let it strain for about a week and only ended up with about 1/4 cup, but I am so proud of my first little cheese. My recurring dream of being a cheesemaker is now reality. I can't wait to try this again. Perhaps I shall consult my friend "Googy" for tried and true methods. Did you know that it takes a lot of milk to make a little bit of cheese?


The elephants went to school in the snack cup with some raisins. I was tempted to entitle this snack "elephants and their droppings" but I resisted and asked my son to think up a name instead. He said "elephants and ants." Much better.

Hey I missed my 4th blogiversary last month. Can I still celebrate even though I don't write here very much at all? Do people who lead boring lives still count their birthdays? YES! Well then whoop dee doo! Hooray for four!

(Originally published at Harada Blogada)

I went to the embroidery party at Gallery Hanahou. I love everyone at this gallery. Always a nice time. The show is up until the 27th and the work will be available online on the 11th. Definitely check it out because there is a lot of beautiful, interesting and fun work in this show!
galleryhanahou.com


It's doubly exciting when something blooms in the winter. This guy stretched out his neck really far in search of scarce winter sunlight, before deciding to open up. This is my favorite color, as you may have guessed.

(Originally published at Harada Blogada)

I stitched some Happy Hearts for an exhibit called Forget Me-Not. It was quite an enjoyable project and I am so happy to be a part of this show. I can't wait to see the rest of the work at the reception. And now for the official announcement from the gallery...

Please join us on Friday, February 6th for a show on love, embroidery, and new interpretations of both.


gallery hanahou presents
Forget Me-Not

embroidered love from the new craft movement
February 6 - 27
Opening reception: Friday, February 6th, 6-8 pm RSVP info@galleryhanahou.com


gallery hanahou / 611 Broadway, Suite 730, NYC / galleryhanahou.com


For generations, women have expressed love of family through the painstaking art of embroidery. This February, gallery hanahou presents a new generation of embroidery artists using needle and thread to depict love in broader terms, whether idealized and simple or brutal and complicated. Curated by Kristen Rask, this group exhibit of affordable artwork will win your affection in more ways than one. A meaningful alternative to waxy chocolates.


In conjunction with Forget Me-Not, gallery hanahou will host a special Valentine embroidery workshop on Saturday, February 7th, at 1 pm. Space is limited, so please contact info@galleryhanahou.com asap for details!


Artists

Aimee Ray, Apol Lejano-Massebieau, Diem Chau, Emily Eibel, Emily Katz, Heidi Kenney, Jenny Harada, Jessica Marquez, Joetta Maue, Kate Durkin, Katherine Shaughnessy, Kayte Terry, Kris Garland, Kristen Rask, Mary Yaeger, Molly Dilworth, Nicole Licht, Orly Cogan, Pamela Davis, sam*skiart, Sarah Horton, Shanna Fiorucci, Shannon Rankin, Vanessa Lauria, Vivienne Strauss

All of the artwork in Forget Me-Not will also be available for viewing and purchase online via galleryhanahou.com beginning February 11.


gallery hanahou
611 Broadway, Suite 730, NYC
[7th Floor of the Cable Building, NW corner of Broadway + Houston]
Mon-Fri noon-6 pm, Sat by appt only
646-486-6586
info@galleryhanahou.com
www.galleryhanahou.com

(Originally published at Harada Blogada)

I miss my camera dearly. I usually take lots of pictures every day, but now it's in the shop. I am addicted to it I guess. I like to document my life, even if I never look at them much or share them with anyone. When I was little I used to imagine that a great invention would be made where anyone's memory could be fully recorded and replayed like a VCR. My mind is always so full of ideas and thoughts bouncing around. It never rests really. It's loud inside my brain and I have trouble falling asleep. I think that this invention would allow my mind to rest a little. I could let some things go. Let them bounce right out of my head! It would all be there on tape, and could be accessed at any time. So taking lots of pictures is my closest way to replicate this dream of mine. You'd think video might be better, but it's it's too hard to take and keep track of IMO. I've been using my husband's camera whenever I get the chance, but it's not the same. I am so happy that I might be able to get it back tomorrow! I've never been great as steady blogging, and without the camera, its generally rather improbable that I might even come here. Well despite that, here's a little something just because I felt like popping in.

I've been making candied orange peels around here whenever there are peels to be had. It's much better than throwing them out and it's way better than eating crappy junk food candy. I wouldn't say these are healthy, but they are organic and pure and simple with no scary ingredients. I like to call them REAL candy. The kids gobble them up. It's amazing this photo even happened. Four out of sixteen remain and didn't last much longer after this snap. Got the recipe from Martha with a tip off from Sarah. And the syrup that is left over in the pot is useful for sweetening your tea or anything else that could use orangey sweetness.

The creature pile is building up in the corner. When I get my camera back I shall start adding them to the shop. Other than that, I have two pretty big exciting projects that I just embarking upon. For now, they will remain a secret. But just for fun, if you like, you can peek at my page of sketches that I scanned and compiled to help gather my thoughts for one of said projects.

Please send good wishes that I will be reunited with my dear camera soon. I know, I am really lucky that this is one my most pressing worries at this moment.

(Originally published at Harada Blogada)

I got some pink embroidery hoops. The pink is so strong, that it gravitationally pulled all the other pinkish things in the room to them.


Testing out the pink hoops.


Made this with Obamicon.
I am feeling pretty inspired by our new president. He makes me want to work hard and get things done. Yesterday was a very happy day. But that bow just touches me in special way! It makes me wanna put huge awesome bows on everything!

(Originally published at Harada Blogada)

I played a game today that I saw on three different blogs. Here it is word for word:

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me. It will be about or tailored to those five lucky "victims."

***(please post over on my blog, not here on LJ, so I can keep track)***

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
- what I create will be just for you.
- it'll be done this year
- you have no clue what it's going to be or when its going to be. It may be fic. It may be poetry. I may draw or paint something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!
- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you have to put this in your journal as well, if you expect me to do something for you!

Well I got all piggy wiggy oink oink and like ME ME ME! on three different blogs, and so I feel it's only right to pay it forward thrice. So the first fifteen folks to chime in below (if that many people indeed do chime) will have to 1. have their own blog and repost and 2. email me their address at jh *at* jennyharada *com*. You only have to do 5, not 15 though! I don't know what fic is so I probably won't send you fic. And I have a few things I owe some other folks right now, so I probably won't get to it for at least a month or two. But we have all year!

I am really missing my camera. Luckily, I have a huge backlog of photos to share. Photoless blogging just doesn't feel right to me.


Sweet potato cracker dough killed my grandma's rolling pin. :(


The "crackers" came out more like little Bobolis. (Don't know what a Boboli is?) I always loved when my mom made Boboli for us. So the next logical step was to make little pizzas. I forgot to take a picture after cooking. Too hungry, got distracted by eating them. Do you know of any good cracker recipes?

(Originally published at Harada Blogada)

Yawn. Good morning. I've just crawled out of my cave. The cave of holiday hiblogernation. Decemblur, as Teresa so aptly named it, was a blast of yummy lovey times in the Harada household. Well all the decorations are long packed away and now it's time to make big resolutions and work on living up to them. Last year I made one little resolution - to draw every day. I didn't keep it 100%. Maybe 50%, but I think that's still pretty good. And a bonus unexpected thing came out of it - I actually started keeping a sketchbook in 2008! I'd tried many times in my life to keep a sketchbook, but it never really worked out. Strange thing about that is most of my drawings have been of clothing designs, not of creatures! Hmmmm... new directions in '09? What? It's the 20th already? Janublurry! Well there's a lot of snow and the ground and that is nice. What's not so nice is my poor dead camera. I hope it won't be long before it comes back to me in tip-top shape. Camera fixing elves, make haste!! Ok so here are two pictures of Daisy dog, taken last month.


This is Daisy.
Daisy lives with Lauren. (snackmountain.com)
Once there was a real live Daisy and although I never met her, I bet she was way cuter.
Daisy can hug and lick.

(Originally published at Harada Blogada)

Whoopsie! Little Elf Chums sure can be mischievous. She claims she just wanted to hug it. Sure, sure. If you dare to unleash the naughtyness and also the friendliness, you can now make your own squad of Elf Chums by purchasing the pattern or kit! The pattern is in the shop but I am still working on writing out the details of the kit, so you'll have to email me about that for now, if you are interested.




On Saturday we had the Elf Chum workshop at Gallery Hanahou. It was gaggles of fun. I loved seeing the fabric combinations that people chose to make their Chums. I brought two bags of fabric and some folks were surprised at how much fabric I had. Oh darlings, you don't know the half of it! Or maybe I should say the one thousandth. It was especially nice to do some hand sewing instead of being surrounded by a bunch of noisy machines. We went overtime, but now I know that it takes five hours for a group of nine people to make one Elf Chum each. I also learned a lot from my students which was very helpful in writing out the instructions for the Elf Chum pattern. I took 46 pictures and tried to include as much detail and tips and hints in the step by step directions as possible. There is always room for improvement, so if you get the pattern and make one or some of these guys, I'd love to hear your feedback. Comments and suggestions are always welcome. Many thanks to everyone who attended!

Gallery Hanahou has 31 pictures of the workshop in their Luv-able + Hug-able set on Flickr. Start here and click through and enjoy!

I've also started a Flickr group called Pomly Pals where you can share pictures of your own Elf Chums. It's also a place for stuff made from my other patterns and tutorials, or fan art, or pics of my creatures at home with you or whatever adventures you've gone on together. Please join in on the fun and add some pictures!


After the Elf Chums were made, these guys posed with some of the famous Mochimochi Land elves. Having the workshop in the gallery space was really wonderful. To be surrounded by awesome plush while making little plushes with friendly people was simply a fantasy within a dream. The space is small but bright which translates into cozy and cheerful. Big thanks to Gallery Hanahou for hosting my workshop!


Here are three chums on our tree, which arrived yesterday and smells so good. Christmas time is more magical than ever now that my big boy is four. Putting up the tree and breaking out the ornament boxes was quite joyous and exciting. Deckity deck the halls!


Magical


Some little slugs came along to check out the glittery light-flashing action. They were a gift from Anna. Thank you Anna! You can make your own slugs from Anna's free pattern.

(Originally published at Harada Blogada)

I love taking closeup photos. When it comes to my creatures, it can get kind of silly. But silly is my favorite. I also decided that I should start framing my pictures in Photoshop. I think it looks swell, but unless I can figure out how to make an automatic action for it, I am not sure how long I will keep it up. Oh the tedium. It reminds me of my previous life as an animator. Here are some beauty shots of some guys I just put in the shop.


Barky Boombalarky


The Rainbow Mother

My camera is making funny noises. I hope it doesn't die. It's kind of making little electronical wheezes that weren't there before. Well, it's either dying or coming to life. Maybe it was hit with radiation from the Allspark. Yes, we have been watching the Transformers movie way too many times around here. Life with a 4 yr old boy is fun and full of popcorn.

If you are looking to do some holiday shopping that is also charitable and will make you feel good spending your money, please visit the Hope for Jasenn Etsy shop. Linda set up this little shop to help out her sister's family. What a nice thing to do! Jasenn, the daddy, has cancer. I donated a Moldy Cloud but it was bought before I had a chance to even write about it.
Sending love their way...xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Reminder: the elf workshop is this Saturday!!!

Hmmm I think this picture needs a fancy border, don't you?

Come and make a little Elf Chum!

Plush Workshop with Jenny Harada
Make an ornament-size plush with Jenny using hand-sewing techniques!
WHEN: Saturday, December 13, 1-4 pm
WHERE: gallery hanahou / 611 Broadway, Suite 730, NYC
COST: $20 (includes materials)
www.galleryhanahou.com/
Email the gallery to reserve a space. info@galleryhanahou.com

(Originally published at Harada Blogada)